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Message from Koosi:

We are fine now. We suspect it was a reaction to our human’s horrible furniture. Hate that couch, hate it, hate it.

If you did not wish us well, we have nothing for you. Hah!

* * * * *

Here’s Koosi appropriating our dinner for her pillow.

DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ARE EATING. OR SQUEAMISH.

This morning we woke up to a scene out of The Godfather. The one where the producer wakes up to find his prized racehorse’s head on his bed.

Take away the horse’s head, all the blood but three drops, and all connection to the mob and that’s what our morning was like.

We followed the trail of drops of blood (six) outside and they led to the bathroom. Our eldest cat Koosi had blood in her stools.

Except for the one time our youngest cat, Mat, caught a cold and freaked us out by not eating (an occurrence to rival the appearance of Halley’s Comet), this was the only health issue our feline family has ever encountered.

Koosi was hiding under the shelf, being even crankier than usual. This is an antisocial cat who likes her solitude. When she wants attention, she walks up to us, rubs her head against our feet, then when we say “Awww”, bites our toes. Yesterday she was snarling and snapping at the other cats, and last night she jumped onto our bed growling. She must’ve been in pain.

We cleaned up the spots then gave Koosi a bowl of kibble and water. She drank a lot of water. Then she came out of hiding and seemed herself again. She allowed us to clean the spots off her butt with baby wipes, but when she got bored she scratched us.

We messaged our pet consultants: Azon our cat-sitter, our Pet Life editor Kathy, and our vet Mayem Yao at Pendragon. Azon said Koosi might have parasites or a digestive problem. Is she losing weight? Azon asked. The opposite, we said, she’s gaining. Any change in their usual behavior means something is wrong, she noted.

Our editor said Koosi must’ve eaten something that disagreed with her. As far as we know she’s been eating the same brand of kibble for years and hasn’t eaten anything else. She even declines the occasional human food (leftover fish or chicken dishes) we offer her.

Our vet asked if Koosi’s poop was solid (It was), then suggested we try deworming her first. If that didn’t work, we should take her to the clinic. She recommended Prazivet or All Wormer for cats and kittens.

Meanwhile Koosi seemed herself again and was busy cleaning her butt. We went off to our appointments, anxious about our cat’s health. At an Animal House we bought deworming tablets. Clearly we were in for a wrestling match. Our technique for giving cats their vitamins requires a medicine dropper. How were we going to give Koosi the two and a half tablets? If we mixed them with her kibble she would refuse them. We could crush the tablets, mix with milk or water and put them in a dropper, but that was too fussy.

We opted for strong-arm tactics. Show the cat who’s boss. It never happens, so it should work once. We grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and when she opened her mouth to protest, popped the tablet in.

She spit it out. We popped it in again. She spit it out again, but on the 10th attempt she swallowed the tablet, which had been softened by her drool. Then we repeated the maneuver for the other tablets. (This weekend we’re going to deworm Saffy and Mat as well.)

Afterwards she did not attack us; she understood the need for the meds. We’ll observe her for 24 hours, then report to the vet. Meanwhile she’s sitting next to us making suggestions as to the style of this post. She’s fine, we’re exhausted.